Individual Details
(Mar 1562 - 7 Jul 1607)
Tradition has it that Philip SIDNEY was in the Royal party when Queen Elizabeth I visited Chartley, the home of the Earl of ESSEX, and that Philip first met Penelope there, and she was later to inspire some of his finest verse. The Earl of ESSEX hoped to arrange a match between Philip and his daughter Penelope but nothing came of it and on the Earl's death the girl was placed in the care of the Countess of Huntingdon (HASTINGS) until she came to court in 1581. The Countess succeeded in making for her the best possible marriage match- the young and eligible Lord RICH who had just succeeded to his title and considerable property. The marriage proved a disaster. By contrast, Philip SIDNEY'S marriage in 1583 to Frances, the daughter of Lord WALSINGHAM, turned out to be a supremely happy and blessed choice. Penelope was engaged to Sir Philip Sydney at 14 for a period of about 4 years, but due to ill health, but on 10 March 1580-1 her guardian, the Earl of HUNTINGDON (HASTINGS), applied through Lord BURGHLEY (CECIL) for the Queen's consent to the girl's union with another suitor. Before 1595, Penelope became Lord MOUNTJOY'S (Charles BLOUNT, 8th Lord MOUNTJOY) mistress and the three sons and two daughters of whom she became the mother after that date were subsequently acknowledged by MOUNTJOY to be his children. Lord RICH could hardly have been ignorant of his wife's conduct, but he made no outward sign. After the execution of her brother, Robert DEVEREUX, Earl of Essex in 1601, her husband, by her own statement, abandoned her. Thereforth, she lived in open adultery with Lord MOUNTJOY, but suffered no loss of esteem at court in consequence. King James I granted her on 17 Aug. 1603 'the place and rank of the ancientest Earl of Essex, called BOURCHIER, whose heir her father was.' By this grant she took precedence of all the baronesses of the kingdom, and of the daughters of all earls, except ARUNDEL, OXFORD, NORTHUMBERLAND, and SHREWSBURY. On "Twelfth Night" 1605 she took p art at court in the performance of Ben JONSON'S "Masque of Blackness". At the sam period, by mutual arrangement, a divorce "a mensa et thoro" was obtained by her husband. He at once took advantage of his release to marry Frances, daughter of Lord Chief Justice Sir Christopher WRAY, and widow of Sir George PAUL of Snarford, Lincolnshire; the "celebrant: was the Earl's chaplain, William LAUD. The King, although he had connived at the illicit connection, warmly resented the marriage, and declined to receive the Earl of his Lady at court. LAUD, who was vehemently attacked for his share in the union, expressed deep contrition. ___________ Philoc’lea, in Sidney’s Arcadia, is Lady Penelope Devereux, with whom he was in love; but the lady married another, and Sir Philip transferred his affections to Frances, eldest daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham.
Events
| Birth | Mar 1562 | Chartley, Staffordshire, England | | | |
| Marriage | 10 Jan 1581 | London, Middlesex, England - Sir Robert RICH 1st Earl of Warwick | | | |
| Death | 7 Jul 1607 | Westminster, London, England | | | |
| Burial | | London, City of London, Greater London, England | | | |
Families
